Balance-wheel.



F. C. BRESSON.

BALANCE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-23,1916.

Patented July 25, 1916.

Inventor Attorneys FRANK C. BBESSON, 0F APPLE GREEK, OHIO.

BALANCE-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1916.

Application filed February 23, 1916. Serial No. 80,026.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK C. BRESSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Apple Creek, in the county of Wayne and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Balance-lVheel, of which the vfollowing is a specification.

The present invention appertainsto fly wheels, and aims to provide a novel and improved fly Wheel structure adapted especially for use upon the engines of well drilling rigs, although the fly wheel can be used for divers other purposes.

According to the present practice, the fly wheel of a well drilling engine serves its function for about the first thousand feet of the well being drilled, but when the Well is drilled deeper it is necessary to slow and steady up the engine to correspond with the elasticity and spring of the drilling cable, which is accomplished by attaching heavy rims to the outside of the fly wheel. These rims ordinarily weigh about two hundred pounds each, and are added as necessary. By adding the extra rims to steady up the engine, it makes a disproportionately heavy or What is known as a loggy engine that cannot be speeded up to pull out the drilling tools or to bail out the mud and water. I

It is the purpose of this invention to provide means whereby the fly wheel can be weighted, and whereby the balancing means can be readily disconnected from the fly Wheel to lighten the load when the engine is operated for pulling up the tools or for bailing out the well, the balancing means being readily connected to and disconnected from the fly wheel by a simple'operation.

The present invention includes novel means for supporting a balance wheel adj acent the fly Wheel of an engine, means for shifting the balance wheel into and out of engagement with the fly wheel, and improved features of construction which add to the utility and efficiency of the device.

The present structure can be readily attached to a drilling or other engine, and serves its office in a thoroughly practical and reliable manner.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as thevdescription proceeds, the invention resides inthe comination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure l is a side elevation of the device as attached to a drilling engine, portions being broken away. Fig. 2 1s a plan view of the device as applied with portions broken away. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of the balance wheel and extra rims attached thereto. v v

In the drawing, there is depicted a conventional drilling engine 1 having a bed 2 and a crank shaft 3 upon one end of which is secured a fly wheel 4 at one side of the bed. It is to be understood, however, that the device can be attached to various styles of engines to cooperate with the fly wheels thereof.

The attachment includes a pedestal 4 seated on the floor or sub-base of the engine, and attached to the engine bedf2 by means of a rigid metallic strap 5 provided with the angularly extending portions 6 and 8. The portion 6 is bolted or otherwise secured, as at 7 ,to the bed 2, and the portion 8 has a portion 9 overlapping and bolted or otherwise secured, as at 10, to the bed. The strap 5 passes to opposite sides of the fly wheel 4 and its intermediate portion fits within a transverse slot or groove 11 with which the outer side of the pedestal 4 is provided, The strap 5 is provided at an intermediate point with a longitudinal slot 12 through which a bolt 13 extends, said bolt being fixed to the pedestal 4, and when loosened permits the pedestal 4 to be adjusted longitudinally to line up the attachment with the shaft 3 of the engine. Oblique braces 14 are preferably bolted or otherwise secured, as at 15, to the strap 5 and lower basal portion of the pedestal 4 to steady the parts. I

The pedestal 4 is provided adjacent its upper end with avertical slot 16, preferably having its side Walls corrugated, and a spindle or' pintle 17 projects through the slot 16, and has a shoulder 18 to bear against the inner side of the pedestal 4, and a nut 19 is threaded upon the outer end of the spindle 17 to bear against the outer side of the pedestal 4 to clamp the spindle in place.

When the nut 19 is loosened, the spindle 17 can be adjusted vertically to bring the axis of the spindle into a horizontal plane in which the axis of the shaft 3 lies, the longitudinal adjustment of the pedestal 4 enabling the axis of the spindle 17 to be brought into a vertical plane in which the axis of the shaft 3 lies. This enables the spindle or stub shaft 17 to be brought into alinement with the crank shaft3, and the attachment can thus be trued from time to time if the parts are shaken or jarred out of place;

A balance wheel 20, preferably of the same diameter asthe fly wheel 4, has its hub 21 journaled for rotation upon the spindie 17 which projects inwardly from the pedestal, the end of the crank shaft 3 being tapered, as at 22, and the corresponding end of the hub 21 being countersunk, as at 23, to fit the beveled end 22 when the balance wheel is shifted toward the fly wheel 4, and which prevents the hub and shaft 3 from sticking together. The hub 21 in engaging the shaft 3 will hold the fly and balance wheels assembled properly for rotation about'a common-axis.

In order that the balance wheel will be rotated, with the fly wheel when they are brought together, the outer face of the rim of the fly wheel 4 has a series of radial gains or notches 24 for the reception of radial outstanding lugs or ribs 25 with which the inner face of the rim of the balance wheel 26 is provided.

The hub 21 is provided with an annular groove 26,. for the connectionof an operating lever 27 fulcrumed asat 28, and having a fork 29' straddling the hub 21, the terminals of the fork 29 having rollers or fingers 30-. working within the slot 26. The lever 27 has an 'arm 31, to which is connected an operating rod 32, which may be reciprocated for oscillating the lever 27. The connection between the rod 32 and lever 27 may be of any suitable character. A coiled wire retractile spring 33 is connected to the arm 31 and is anchored, as at 34, the arm 31 and spring 33 being so located, that when the assume a dead center position.

lever 27 is in neutral or intermediate positlon, the arm 31 and spring 33 aline -and x when the lever is swung to either extreme position, it is held in place by the spring, since the arm 31 moves past dead center. Additional balance rims 35 can be placed upon the rim of the balance wheel 20, the rims 35 being of different diameters so as to fit one upon the other and upon the wheel 20. Each of the rims 35 embodies arcuatesections 36 havinghooks 37 at their ends adapted to interfit snugly b a lateral movement of the 'sections,.and t e sections '6'5 36 have inwardly projecting ears38 to overlap the rim of the balance wheel20', or the shaft 3.

added to the balance wheel as the well is drilled deeper, and as will be apparent according to well established practice. The weight of the balance wheel can thus be increased or diminished, as desired for controllingthe action of the engine.

In operation, to connect the balance wheel with the fly wheel, the rod 32 is actuated so as to swing the lever 37 in the proper direction, whereby the lever 27 will shift the hub 21 toward the fly wheel 4, thus moving the ribs 25 against the fly wheel and into the notches 24, the hub 21 also abutting the The balance wheel will also rotate with the fly wheel 4, for steadying the engine. The balance wheel can be quickly disconnected from the fly wheel when desired, simply by reversing the operation, so that the lever 27 is swung for shifting the balance wheel away from the fly wheel. The balance wheel is held in either position by the spring 33 as above indicated. The balance wheel can thus-be moved into and out of engagement with the fly wheel by a simple operation, even though one or more additional rims 35 are applied to the balance wheel.

-With the present arrangement, it is asimple matter for the operator to apply the balance wheel to the fly wheel to rotate therewith, thereby providing a slow heavy engine for drilling, and the balance wheel can be quickly disconnected from the fly wheel to provide a fast engine for other operations, such as for lifting the tool, bailing out the well, or the like. There is therefore less strain on the engine and its shaft when the balance wheel is disconnected from the fly wheel, and the present device also saves time, labor and fuel for. obvious reasons. The invention can also be used upon gas and other engines to enable them to be started quickly, and to steady up the engine after it is started.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is;

1. In a device of the character described, a fly wheel, a balance wheel, said wheels havlng interengageable portions, means for shifting said balance wheel into and out of engagement with the fly wheel including a for holding it in either position.

12. In a device of the character described,

a fly wheel, a spindle, a balance wheel hav ing its hub slidable upon said spindle, the

balance wheel being movable into and out of engagement with the fly wheel, and means for adjustably supporting said spindle whereby the balance wheel can be brought into coaxial relation with the fly wheel.

3. The combination with a drilling engine, its shaft and a fly wheel mounted on said shaft, of a balance wheel disposed ad- 7 jacent the fly wheel, and adjustable means independent of said shaft for mounting the balance wheel coaxial with and for movement into and out of engagement with the fly wheel.

4:. The combination with an engine hav- 7 ing a bed, a shaft, and a fly wheel upon said shaft, of a edestal, a strap terminally attached to said bed and attached between its ends to said pedestal, a spindle carried by the pedestal and projecting toward and in alinement with sald shaft, a balance wheel slidable upon said spindle to move into 15 R. D. SHOOK, F. R. BEAZELL. 

